The HillBillarys' time has come and gone

If Hillary Clinton had won the Democratic nomination, the story wouldn't be worth the ink. Her quest dates back to her days as first lady

By LeRoy GoldmanGoldmind

If Hillary Clinton had won the Democratic nomination, the story wouldn't be
worth the ink. Her quest dates back to her days as first lady. It was
significantly advanced by her Senate career. She began 2007 with the most
money, a huge campaign staff, and with a sheaf of detailed policy proposals
both foreign and domestic. In addition, she had the help and assistance of
former President Bill Clinton, a revered figure to many Democrats.
But with all of those advantages, she lost. How the HillBillarys blew it is
worth the ink.

In presidential primaries Democratic candidates run to the left in order to
appeal to their party's most fervent activists. Once they have the
nomination, they run back to center in the fall campaign to reach out to
the moderates they need for victory.

But Hillary, believing her nomination was inevitable, ran to the center
during the primaries. This arrogant blunder created the opening on the left
that Obama would ultimately exploit with a vengeance, especially on the
Iraq War. By incorrectly assuming that her nomination was inevitable, the
HillBillarys sowed the seeds of their demise. Perhaps they had the temerity
to convince themselves that the United States Constitution contained a
secret codicil conveying to her the Divine Right of queens.

Their hubris was responsible for another strategic blunder. Her campaign
marketed her as the candidate with experience, the one ready to do the job
on Day One. But the campaign, initially led by Patti Solis Doyle, who was
in way over her head, didn't correctly see the obvious. Americans of all
political stripe are furious at the gridlock in Washington. And that fury
demands change, not someone who offers experience, especially when it's
experience in partisan gridlock. Thus, Hillary played right into Obama's
strength by allowing him to take the high ground by calling for change.
The HillBillarys have had high negatives for years. One is that many
Americans, including many Democrats, believe that they will lie in order to
further their personal ambition. Her oft-repeated statement on the campaign
trail that she had landed in Tuzla, Bosnia, under sniper fire was such a
lie. And when the nation saw the videotape of her and Chelsea walking
across the tarmac in complete safety, it reminded many Democrats of this
character flaw.

She also assumed that her coronation as the Democratic nominee would be
complete by Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. Thus the campaign did not develop a
strategy for competing in the caucus states because they assumed it was
unnecessary. This monumental blunder enabled Obama to waltz to victory in
virtually every caucus state, pilling up pledged delegates in all of them.
Most of the early money that HillBillarys raised, upwards of $250 million,
came from "large" donors who contributed the maximum, $2,300. This strategy
would have worked had the HillBillarys been right that the nomination would
be hers by Super Tuesday. But when that didn't happen, her campaign quickly
ran into financial difficulty. In the meantime Obama was raising his money
over the Internet. His strategy, relying upon millions of "small" donors,
enabled him to go back to them again and again when he needed more cash. By
April Obama had a financial stranglehold on Hillary with the ability to
outspend her 4-to-1 in the later stages of the campaign.

And by the time that the HillBillarys realized that they were not only in
the fight of their lives, but also behind, they doubled down and played the
race card. Bill, the president who chose to locate his presidential office
in Harlem, did it first in the South Carolina primary with his race-baiting
references to Jesse Jackson. Hillary did it later with her comments about
"hard working white Americans." It backfired big time and locked in the
African American vote for Obama.

As Hillary's chances for the nomination ebbed, the campaign was rocked by
the forced resignation of its chief strategist, Mark Penn. Penn, a
millionaire Washington lobbyist, was spending time representing the
government of Colombia on a free trade deal with the United States, while
Hillary was on the campaign trail opposing NAFTA and trade agreements like
the one that Penn was attempting to broker. At the same time, he was
"masterminding" her onrushing campaign train wreck.

And in late May in an interview with the editorial board of South Dakota's
leading newspaper, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Hillary sank to a new low.
She reminded us all of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June of
1968 on the night that he won the California primary.

She appeared to be suggesting that her refusal to accept the reality of her
defeat by Obama could be understood by the possibility that Obama might be
assassinated. Moreover, she managed to illuminate that grotesque corner of
her mind only days after the nation learned that Sen. Ted Kennedy suffers
from an aggressive, malignant brain tumor.

What we have here is a performance of the Keystone Kops so astounding that,
if it weren't true, no person would believe it. But it is true. The
HillBillarys have destroyed themselves the old fashioned way. They earned
it.

So, at last, at long last are we free of the HillBillarys? Unfortunately,
perhaps not.

(Subhead) The dream (nightmare) ticket

Bill Clinton has begun to attempt to persuade Democrats that Obama must put
Hillary on the ticket in order to win. Such a view is preposterous.
Hillary's presence on the ticket would fatally undercut Obama's core
message of breaking the gridlock in Washington. In addition, putting the
HillBillarys in the White House guarantees the presence of a "Fifth Column"
in Obama's White House.

Senate majority leader

Rumors concerning a cabal to depose Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are
already circulating in the Senate Democratic cloakroom. If she makes this
effort, she will be aided by the fact that Reid has been ineffective. But
her ascension as Senate leader will create havoc.

Although appearing to use the position to secure passage of Obama's
legislative program, she will seek to destroy it. Destroy it, because
moving Obama out of the White House is the necessary precondition for her
reincarnation in 2012.

In addition, Hillary and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi don't trust each other
and don't like one another. Their catfight will necessarily subject the
legislative process to intrigue and impasse.

The Congress zealously protects its institutional prerogatives under the
doctrine of the separation of powers. Thus, any effort that Obama makes to
prevent Hillary from becoming Senate leader will have to be invisible and
subterranean. But make no mistake about it; if she becomes Senate leader,
Obama and his program will be in a world of hurt.
(Subhead) Associate justice

And there is another alternative pathway for Hillary that portends even
more damage for the nation. Obama, in order to get free of the "curse" of
the HillBillarys, might put her on the Supreme Court. But that life
appointment would unleash her pent up rage upon all of us for the next
20-25 years.

The HillBillarys have constipated the Democrat Party. The time is at hand
for the remaining uncommitted superdelegates to "rectify" the blockage by
showing the HillBillarys the exit, stage left.

Times-News community columnist LeRoy Goldman puts a masters degree in
political science to use in his hobby of predicting elections. His column
appears on the third Sunday of the month.

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